WandaVision on Disney Plus acts as a tribute to the sitcom genre, with most of its episodes dedicated to a specific show or time period. According to the show's creator, however, there was supposed to be another entry in the TV series that could have flipped that overarching idea on its head.
In an interview with the New York Times, creator Jac Schaeffer revealed that the creative team had also planned to include a CSI-style episode in its running order. This, Schaeffer explained, was supposed to subvert viewers' expectations of WandaVision, but was eventually discarded as the writers honed in on the sitcom idea.
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Asked how the writers' room came up with the sitcom formula, Schaeffer said: "In my pitch, the 'rewind' episode was a 'CSI.' episode. I thought, how interesting (it would be) to do sitcom, sitcom, sitcom, and then shatter that and be in a different genre. But once we got in the writers’ room, we stayed with family sitcoms and sitcoms that were on the brighter, optimistic side of the spectrum because it is a fantasy."
Is this the 10th WandaVision episode that was reportedly cut?
It's unlikely. For those who are unaware, rumors about a 10th WandaVision episode had circulated online throughout its nine-week run on Disney Plus. It had been thought that there was a secret entry in the TV series but, as WandaVision's final episode aired on March 5, fans' hopes for another installment ended in disappointment.
That isn't to say that there weren't 10 episodes planned. In a lengthy chat with Kevin Smith on his Fatman Beyond podcast, WandaVision showrunner Matt Shakman confirmed that Wanda and Vision's story did have 10 episodes to begin with. However, plot alterations and the Covid-19 pandemic saw the number cut from 10 to nine.
"We also at one point had 10 episodes planned," Shakman confirmed. "We ended up collapsing a couple, you know just to make the rhythm feel a little bit better. But yeah, they constantly changed and then of course, once we wrapped in Atlanta the pandemic hit and we ended up having months off so then (we made) further changes during that."
If the CSI episode was the one that was amalgamated into other parts of the series, it's certain that this would have taken place before filming begun. As Schaeffer said, the idea was dropped when the creative team settled on the sitcom riffs, so it's likely that WandaVision's CSI idea didn't make it until the post-production portion of the project.
It would have been interesting to see the show shift from sitcom to a forensics crime drama genre, but may have disrupted the flow of the show. WandaVision's story was steadily paced and received really well by audiences, so maybe it was for the best that the CSI episode never saw the light of day.
